ABSTRACT
Implementing a Six Sigma quality initiative principally involves a radical and cultural change in the way an organization thinks about itself and interacts with its environment. Using Six Sigma as the quality initiative provides the main tactics through which the objectives will be reached, and all that is then required is a strategy plan for the implementation. The chapter provides an outline of various stages to be expected within the overall strategy: preparing; launching; learning; improving; and mastering. Six Sigma project team champions need to come from the heart of the organization, and need to both empathize with and understand the Six Sigma vision and methodology. Within organizations adopting Six Sigma, quality-involved staff are trained and expected to be experts and exponents, teachers and trainers, coaches and leaders, facilitators and diplomats. Most approaches exhibit a common thread in the use of cross-functional business teams completing one quality project at a time.
